It's a Funny Story, Really
by Mrs Billy Pratt
Summary: When Thor convinces the others that Loki isn't bad, all hell breaks loose. Juliette has to deal with missions, angry bosses, nightmares...and also psychos who want to take over the world. All in a day's work, she supposes. Sequel to Sarcasm Isn't an Answer for Everything. Steve/OC


**A/N: Hi guys! Wow. It seems like it's been forever since I last heard from you, but it hasn't. Bizarre. So for those of you who have never read about Juliette, I suggest reading Sarcasm Isn't an Answer for Everything, as this is the sequel. Yeah, it took me a while to come up with a name and I'm slightly satisfied with it, but not very. Send a review with suggestions please!**

**So here we are right after the last hospital scene, but I'll re-write it here for the newbies.**

**Thanks so much for reading this again!**

Thor glanced anxiously at the faces surrounding him. "I know that you do not agree, but he is my brother, and he is repentant."

Outrage flew across Natasha's features and she yelled, "Look at what he did to us!" before storming out, slamming the door shut behind her.

There was a tense few seconds as Steve stared at the pillow on the floor that the assassin had been sitting on. Clint got up and went after her.

"Loki tried to destroy us, Thor," Tony said seriously. "Why should we try to help him?"

The rest of them nodded. Tony took a few seconds to glance at Peter, who was busily eating a hoagie.

"What?" he said through a mouthful. "It's really good!"

Juliette slapped it out of his hands. It fell to the ground and Peter stared at it, horrified. "That was my hoagie!"

"Anyways," Bruce said dismissively, "why should we trust him?"

"He is not well. It is not like him to kill mindlessly," Thor said. "Someone…or something…has twisted his mind. He is being controlled, possibly through torture! He is a victim, a slave, used only until a job has been finished! I do not care what the others on Asgard say, he is my brother and he is in grave danger!"

Thor was standing now, chest heaving with anger. "If you do not trust me enough to do this one wish, then I…I will leave. I will help him myself!"

As he left, the remaining few on the team sat dumbfounded.

"We should probably investigate it, guys…" Bruce looked from each of the members to the door. "I respect Thor, and…well…he might have a point."

"He is an enemy," Steve said roughly. "Look at what he did to Clint and Natasha! Look at all the times he betrayed those he was loved by, all the people who died because of his ideas for 'true power' and 'freedom is life great lie'! I say, we give him one chance, and if he blows it…we'll abandon him. I won't make the same mistake twice."

"Loki deserves a chance." Tony stood, his hands at his lips. He began to pace. "Those things he said about freedom and true power…they didn't sound quite right to me. They sounded like the crap they made you spew at the beginning of your career, Cap. They sounded like lines. I think Thor might be onto something." When he looked up and saw blank stares, he sighed. "What's one way to torture a Frostgiant?...with _heat. _I think someone was controlling him. Symptoms of excessive heat exposure: dark, sunken in eyes; confusion; unbalance; occasional hallucinations; paler lips or face due to loss of circulation…anybody remember what he looked like when we met him versus what Thor knew him as?"

The people gaped at him.

"We should help him," Peter concluded.

Tony rolled his eyes.

"But how do we tell Fury?" Juliette asked uncertainly.

Tony smiled, his eyes twinkling.

"We don't."

**Juliette gripped his arm **steadily. He looked down at her through the silence and shook his head. She let go unwillingly, but stayed right behind him, watching him uneasily. The hall was unusually silent, filled only with Steve's whispered requests to Juliette. The agents surrounding the nine people—Steve, Tony, Bruce, Clint, Thor, Natasha, Peter, Juliette…and Loki—stared anxiously. Steve cringed as he walked down the first few steps and nearly lost his balance, but Juliette gripped his arm again and he limped back into the main deck.

"Sir," Steve said breathlessly as Fury strode in. The other seven (not including Loki) fell in line. Loki stood slightly behind, eyeing the people with curiosity and unease.

"Am I to understand," began Fury, interrupting the silence with anger, "that you brought a known enemy to our most secret campus? Is this what I am to expect of my best agents that I have left?"

Loki cringed at the words 'known enemy'.

"Sir, we have an explanation for—" Steve attempted to speak.

"Oh, no, you don't," Fury said, "I am not taking excuses from Mr. Flawless."

Steve closed his eyes. Peter began to speak. "Fury, just let him talk. Stop shooting us down."

"I do not take orders from sixteen year old boys," Fury barked.

"Hey, Furious George—no, _I'm _speaking now, Jack—we have a reason," Tony started angrily, "and if you won't support our decision we can go to some other agency. I'm sure Natasha knows one, and if that fails…well, Captain knows one too." Steve looked up, panic in his eyes at the brief allusion to HYDRA.

Fury sighed. "My best agents bring me a known serial killer in the hopes that we can take it and keep it as a pet. Alright, Speedwagon, what's your story?"

Thor started. "My brother is not well."

Loki scowled. "I am not your brother. I am adopted, remember?" Loki's expression was cold and unforgiving…and hurt. "Why pretend to help me when you're really taking me for tests? To 'cure me' with your pathetic little science. Look what science did to Dr. Banner. No. I will not be subject to your games, _Odinson_, no longer will I live in the shadow of a much greater, much more enjoyable _Asgardian_. Do not try to fool me. I have been fooled long enough."

Fury eyed them quizzically. Peter had jumped back into some weird fighting stance, and everyone saw as web filament hit Loki on the side of the head. Thor was looking down, hurt, and Steve had jumped in front of Juliette, who was sighing with her hand on her face. Natasha was holding a gun that was aimed at Loki's head, looking no longer like Natasha Romanov, but like the killer Black Widow. "It seems to me that you don't trust him enough yourself to even stand next to him."

"I am not one to be trifled with, Ant." Loki turned and walked out.

Fury shook his head slowly. "Congratulations. You just compromised all of SHIELD because you felt like you should be charitable." He turned away to his office, leaving the Avengers standing alone, suddenly the subject of stares and shame that did not feel quite right.


End file.
